He swallowed. ‘I didn’t kill her. I wouldn’t!’ He scraped the chair across the floor and leaned his elbows on his knees as he bent over and ran his fingers through his gelled hair. His tie dangled on his thigh. ‘I don’t want to hurt Kerry.’
‘Her two best friends are dead. She’s already been hurt. Kerry needs to know the truth.’
‘Okay.’ He paused and sat back up, staring at Gina before fixing his gaze on Wyre. ‘Have you never made a mistake?’
Gina had heard this one before and it irked her that he was arrogantly trying to turn this back on them. ‘This isn’t about me, Mr Powell. This is about you being the father of the baby that Holly was carrying when she was murdered.’
His cheeks twitched as he clenched his jaw. Edward Powell was used to being believed. He was used to charming his way out of situations, Gina could see that now. ‘Tell me about your relationship with Holly.’
‘There was no relationship. We slept together once and my being the father was purely bad luck. Why me?’
‘Go on.’
He slowly shook his head from side to side. A bead of sweat formed at his hairline and began to trickle down his cheek. He wiped it away with the handkerchief from his suit pocket before removing the jacket. ‘It was at the end of January, this year. The weather was as frosty as Kerry had been that day. We’d had a bit of a tiff. It’s ironic that she was going on about having a baby. She kept bleating on and on about how cute Lilly’s kid was and that she was ready. I wasn’t. We had planned our wedding and I wanted to enjoy us being free for a couple of years. Anyway, in her words, she said I was a selfish bastard. Instead of shouting my mouth off, I walked out. That’s what I do and I know it upsets Kerry. She’d rather battle it out. I went to the newsagents, bought some cigarettes and kept walking until I arrived at the park. It was full of parents with screaming brats and my stomach was churning with anxiety at the thought of fatherhood becoming my life. I hate myself for thinking all this. When we got together—’
‘Is that with Kerry or Holly?’
‘Kerry, of course.’ He paused and tilted his head slightly to the side. ‘I know I’d promised her everything, kids, the lot. I suppose with the wedding coming up, I was beginning to feel trapped and that argument had sent me over the edge. I arrived at the park and I sat on the bench, the same bench I was sitting on the other night. It was where I bumped into Holly, then one thing led to another and that’s it. I didn’t hurt her. It was just the once.’ He threw his head back and took a deep breath.
‘What happened next?’
‘Do we have to? Isn’t it obvious?’
The mechanics were very obvious but Gina needed more than that, she needed to know how he felt and if there was something in his story that would lead her to believe he killed Holly and or Fran. ‘Please go on.’
‘She was jogging, going for it good and proper, really pushing herself. I spotted her and waved. I remember her bending over while she got her breath back and at that moment I saw an escape from all my problems. Her red hair was in a long plait down her back and she had such a warm smile. She could see I was upset so we spoke for a while, she reassured me that one day I’d be a good father and it was normal to be nervous with the wedding coming up. I felt like a shedload had been lifted off my shoulders. I then listened to her and she spilled that she was in some sort of relationship that she thought was going nowhere. She got a little upset and I don’t know what happened. Her hand brushed against mine. We were both in a bad place and we both felt something. We went straight back to hers and had the most passionate sexual encounter I’ve ever had in my life. There, is that all? Do you want the details? Positions, maybe?’
Gina cleared her throat. ‘What happened after?’
‘I awkwardly dressed and I don’t know why, I kept apologising. I have cheated on Kerry before but it seemed weird with Holly and I could tell she felt the same. She was one of Kerry’s best friends. As I was about to leave, I heard her crying so I stayed a while. We both agreed that we were going through confused times in our lives and we said we’d never mention what happened again. She was happy with that and I was. I went to get a drink from her kitchen and there was a man’s shirt hanging over the back of the chair so I know there was someone else in her life.’
‘Did you ask her who this other person was?’
He paused for a moment. ‘No. I didn’t want to know but during her teary moments, she admitted he was married but she couldn’t let him go. By this time, I just wanted to get out of there so I made my excuses and left. I didn’t even know she was pregnant until it came out after she was murdered.’
‘Thank you for being so open. As it stands, we don’t have any witnesses who can confirm that you were at the park on the night of Francesca Carter’s murder. Did Holly tell Francesca that you were her baby’s father, putting her at risk?’
‘No. Way! I did not kill Fran. I did not kill Holly. If I’d have got caught out, I’d have handled it. It wouldn’t have been the first time Kerry had found out I’d cheated. I wouldn’t kill to keep that to myself.’
Gina flicked through the case notes. Through the chaos of his wedding reception, no one could vouch for him being in the function room or garden at all times. Like many of the others, he had opportunity when it came to killing Holly. ‘Did you murder Holly Long on the night of your wedding reception?’
‘I can’t believe you lot. I didn’t murder Holly and I didn’t murder Fran.’
‘Was Holly threatening to tell your new wife about the baby?’
‘No. Holly hadn’t spoken to me since we slept together that one time. I told you.’
Gina could see his hands tensing up.
‘Was Francesca Carter threatening to say something to Kerry about what happened between you and Holly? No one can vouch for you being at the park. All those appeals on the news and not one person has come forward to say they saw you. We’ve reviewed hours of footage and no one passed the camera in the car park with a Red Setter dog.’
‘They probably walked. There is more than one entrance to the park!’
Opening a poly pocket, Gina slid out a bank statement with most of the transactions blacked out. ‘Do you recognise this account number and sort code.’
He stared at the numbers for a few minutes and grimaced. He glanced up at Gina then at Wyre before looking down once more. Rubbing his thumb and index finger together, he turned away. ‘Never seen them.’
Gina slammed her notes together in front of her and maintained eye contact with Edward Powell. When his eyes were on the numbers she could see a flicker of recognition. He continued to rub his fingers together. ‘Where were you last night between one and two in the morning?’
He laughed a little then leaned back, his hair now sodden with sweat. ‘At home in bed. Kerry was there. Has something else happened? Something you can’t pin on me.’
‘We’ve already spoken to Kerry. She confirmed that you slept in separate bedrooms last night.’ That was her trump card.
‘I want my solicitor. I didn’t kill or hurt anyone and I’m not saying another word.’
Gina and Wyre sat in silence for a few moments as the tape continued to run. Edward Powell literally looked like he’d been through a ringer. He had no alibi for all three incidents, then there was the question of him having shoe covers at his disposal. The more she researched his work, the more she realised he’d own a pair of proper safety boots too, probably similar to the imprint of the popular brand they’d found at both murder scenes, and he had motive. Edward Powell had only told them about his encounter with Holly because he’d had no choice. She realised he was going to be tough to crack. She nearly had him, but why was there a niggling doubt at the back of her mind? ‘What size shoe do you take?’